George Mason University

George Mason University (GMU), a large public research institution headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, operates as a prime recipient and contractor across federal scientific research, workforce development, tuition and fees services, and specialized consulting, competing full-and-open across civilian and defense agencies without set-aside designation. The university is a minority institution and state-controlled educational entity that acts as a federal prime in 92% of its awards while maintaining a small subcontract footprint (8%), with a recent portfolio of 3,458 awards spanning four decades and a combined potential value of $1.15 billion—though obligated dollars of $2.26 billion indicate significant drawdown on multi-year grants and contracts.

GMU's federal footprint centers on scientific research and educational services. The top five customer agencies by award count—National Science Foundation (456 awards), NASA Shared Services Center (283 awards, $90.5 million combined value), Department of the Navy (149 awards, $147.1 million), Department of the Army (114 awards), and NOAA (94 awards)—account for approximately 32% of recent awards; by dollar concentration, Navy and NASA dominate with $147.1 million and $90.5 million combined potential value respectively, covering 24% of total portfolio value. Recent representative prime work includes a $4.75 million NASA grant (July 2025) to support the Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges International Project Office through 2030; a $9.3 million NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse project grant (August 2025) on network modeling for chronic musculoskeletal pain research extending through July 2029; a $1.99 million Defense Health Agency cooperative agreement (May 2026) to establish an APEX Accelerator procurement technical assistance center; and a $3.11 million Federal Highway Administration delivery order (May 2026) for FOIL Laboratory technical support operations through April 2029. Educational services awards include a $2.34 million Uniformed Services University tuition and fees delivery order (June 2025) and multiple tuition/fees orders from Navy and Army service components.

GMU holds a primary indefinite-delivery contract vehicle—a single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract with FHWA ($18 million ceiling, May 2026–April 2031) for FOIL Laboratory technical support—and places significant work under standing basic ordering agreements with Navy ($794 thousand across 35 task orders on BPA ING08PA90062) and other defense components. The top parent vehicles show 39 task orders ($272 thousand combined) under Navy IDC N0014098G3034, 35 task orders ($794 thousand) under Army BPA ING08PA90062, and 29 task orders ($4.2 million) under Navy IDC N0018917DZ027, reflecting a diversified IDV footprint weighted toward Navy ordering.

Activity has been volatile: awards per year peaked at 254 in 2024, dropped to 173 in 2025, and show only 55 awards year-to-date in 2026 (through September 1), indicating either a seasonal lag in data collection or declining award velocity. The recompete cliff is substantial: 159 awards with ultimate completion in the next 24 months carry combined potential value of $352.9 million, representing significant renewal risk for the university's Navy and NASA relationships.

On federal service contracts captured by the Service Contract Inventory, GMU reported $15.1 million in invoiced revenue across prime records from FY2022–FY2024 (FY2024: $5.1 million across 19.8 FTEs; FY2023: $7.6 million across 20.8 FTEs; FY2022: $2.3 million across 10.0 FTEs), with median government-paid hourly rates running around $134/hr and senior labor reaching $415/hr at the 90th percentile. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for approximately 21% of total contractor hours on average, with 15 named subcontractors cited; the university engages primes including Yale University, Clemson University, The University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt University on research sub-awards spanning climate science, autonomous systems, and biomedical research. The affiliated entity The George Mason University Instructional Foundation, Inc. (a non-profit subsidiary) appears in several grant sub-awards and historical IDV positions, functioning as a specialized vehicle for administrative and educational support.

Core capabilities span quantitative research and STEM education across computational physics, astrophysics, biophysics, climate science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, prosthetics and biomedical engineering, and behavioral science research. The award portfolio's primary NAICS categories are Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (276 awards), Research and Development in Physical and Life Sciences (115 awards combined), and Professional Development Training (38 awards), with PSC codes emphasizing Space Science R&D (180 awards) and Education/Training services (166 awards). This profile reflects GMU's dual identity as a research institution competing on scientific merit and a service provider supplying federal workforce development and facility support.